Kanye West to release 'Black Skinhead' as first 'Yeezus' single

Kanye West is to release 'Black Skinhead' as the first single from his chart-topping new album 'Yeezus'.

The rapper's label, Def Jam, confirmed the release to Billboard and revealed that a video for the track is currently "in the works". Both promo and a clean, radio-friendly version of the track are due to drop on US Independence Day – July 4.

Meanwhile, 'Yeezus' executive producer Rick Rubin recently hinted at the possibility that Kanye West could release an album containing off-cuts from his new album. He told The Daily Beast: "Before he even asked me to work on it, I said, 'Maybe you should make it more concise. Maybe this is two albums. Maybe this is just the first half."

He added: "That was one of the first breakthroughs. Kanye was like, 'That's what I came here today to hear! It could be 10 songs!" Asked if that means a second half to 'Yeezus' was on its way, Rubin replied: "Maybe."

The veteran producer also revealed how he didn't think it would be possible to finish 'Yeezus', after Kanye West gave him just five weeks to turn "three and a half hours of works in progress" into a "focused" album.

He said: "To me it seemed impossible what he was asking. I remember I wasn't feeling that well that day, and I was thinking, 'Is the music making me sick? I don't feel good about this. We ended up working probably 15 days, 16 days, long hours, no days off, 15 hours a day. I was panicked the whole time."

However, Rubin's hard-work paid off as 'Yeezus' debuted on the US Billboard 200 at Number One. It marks the rapper's sixth straight Number One album in the US, with only his debut 'College Dropout' in 2004 failing to hit the top spot. As well as reaching NUmber One, 'Yeezus' also scored the third-highest opening-week sales of 2013, selling 327,000 copies in a week. It is also currently Number One in the UK.